I also like the idea of offering up a software suggestion for those who do want to learn FTP, the same way we offer up a program suggestion with the AMVAPP.

I wouldn't want to get rid of FTP entirely because I've grown comfortable using it myself, but I do think a simpler method for uploading than "go find a random ftp program and learn it yourself" would be better for the org.

I also believe we should keep the file size limits, with needing approval for over 100mb. I say this because it will push people to learn how to encode better. If they can't upload their file, then they will hopefully ask for help, thus helping them with their encoding skills.

Speaking of HTML5, I'm not really going to bring up the video tag quagmire other than to say that it should absolutely be taken into consideration throughout the design process for the future, even if the situation may be a sticky one at present.

How's the work force on this? I may not be the most active but I'd be glad to toss in my chips.

So I just spent an hour or so helping a person learn how to upload to the org, and I'm not even sure if they got through the entire process. I think the entire cataloging/uploading/confirming system needs to be condensed a little bit so its a little more intuitive, not spread across 6-8 different pages, and in general more user-friendly to what people have become accustomed to from other sites where they upload. Reading through the older posts and such I have to disagree with this aspect not being a priority, its one of the most common reasons I hear why people don't upload here is because the upload process just looks confusing, despite it not actually being that difficult once you figure it out. I think even simple changes like having all the catalog information being able to be filled out in one page, and then a 2nd page for confirming the upload would go a long way in easing the complexity of it all to new users.

i agree. improving the upload process is really the only necessity and the biggest thing keeping us down and members away.

if there was a browser-based client for ftp (not sure if there is one or not actually) then something we could do that i believe would work wonders is simply connect all the different items in the upload and announcement process. One link on the main page that says "Upload AMV" could start out with the info entry process, and then at the end have a link "click here to upload" and then that would lead you to the client where you could just drag and drop the video into it and wait for upload, then continue with the regular upload process and at the end of the upload process have a link that says "share your work" or something that would link you to a pre-filled new topic in the announcements (that you'd be free to edit of course) complete with title of the video in the subject, and the vidid thing in the body, because about a third of the announcements don't know how to do vidid's and almost always need correcting by kariudo. All they'd have to do then is hit submit.

That was most of my confusion when i first came here, having upload video and enter new video on two different pages. I didn't know wtf enter new video would be, i just wanted to upload! and that's what the new age of editors looks for when they wanna share their work. Then i have people telling me "i've had some videos up there for like a year and nobody's commented," which can be attributed to the forum being hidden away but also they might have actually been getting comments and don't know it because the quick comment and op alert feature is really screwy. when you reply to ops it looks like new ones have popped up but that's a totally different subject.

i think, at the very least, we just need to combine or somehow link the enter new video and upload video processes by way of a simple link at the end of the former, and name it all "Upload AMV." i don't think that'd take too much coding work, right?

Nya-chan Production wrote:Just adding a self note here - it'd possibly be wiser to use Flash-based solution ( like http://digitarald.de/project/fancyupload/ ), before switching to HTML5 - the penetration still isn't enough.

It feels funny recommending flash instead of other alternatives, but Nya is right that HTML5 isn't a completely adopted thing yet. Support for it is sketchy across modern browsers... some support certain elements of HTML5, others support different ones, or none at all.

Actually, I checked against here: http://caniuse.com/#search=file%20API and certainly we would like to support all major browsers. Lack of IE 8/9 AND only partial support in Fx/Op is a reason against using FileAPI at this moment.

Nya-chan Production wrote:Actually, I checked against here: http://caniuse.com/#search=file%20API and certainly we would like to support all major browsers. Lack of IE 8/9 AND only partial support in Fx/Op is a reason against using FileAPI at this moment.